(MENAFN- The Rio Times) Guatemala has redrawn the rules of its long fight with gangs. Congress approved Decree 11-2025, labeling Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and 18th Street (Barrio 18) as terrorist organizations and stiffening sentences for extortion and recruitment.

The decree also routes major cases to high-impact courts, allows judges to freeze assets, and orders a new maximum-security prison to isolate gang leadership.

The law did not come out of nowhere. It followed the stunning disclosure that 20 members of Barrio 18 slipped out of Fraijanes II, a maximum-security facility, exposing deep cracks in prison control.

President Bernardo Arévalo accepted the resignations of his interior minister and two deputies and promised a prison census and tighter controls. Several fugitives have since been recaptured, but the episode turned stalled bills into urgent legislation.

The backdrop is a rising security bill paid by ordinary Guatemalans. The interannual homicide rate climbed to roughly 17.6 per 100,000 this year, while the rate of extortion complaints hovered around 150 per 100,000-figures that capture the daily squeeze on shopkeepers, bus drivers, and families.



Prisons are overcrowded, and prosecutors say gang nodes keep operating from behind bars. There is also a cross-border shift.
Central America Watches as Guatemala Tackles Gangs and Legal Limits
The United States designated MS-13 as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February and added Barrio 18 in September, moves that align with Guatemala's new framework and make cross-border investigations and financial freezes easier.

Regionally, El Salvador 's years-long state of emergency-credited by its government with driving down murders after tens of thousands of arrests-has raised public pressure for tougher measures across Central America, even as rights groups warn of due-process risks.

Why this matters to readers outside Guatemala is simple. This is a live test of whether“terror” designations and asset-driven prosecutions can cut extortion and violence without breaking the justice system.

If implementation works-building the new prison, isolating command structures, following the money-business confidence and everyday safety could improve.

If it backfires-through abuses, wrongful detentions, or courtroom bottlenecks-the result will be more overcrowding, more anger, and a harder environment for investors and migrants alike.

Verification note: All figures and events cited here come from official congressional releases, Guatemalan and regional reporting, and publicly available security data series; nothing has been invented or embellished.

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